Madison's Notes

Sergiu Klainerman is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University. Born in communist Romania, he sees disturbing parallels between life in the Soviet Bloc and the "soft totalitarianism" or "pre-totalitarianism" taking root in America. He joins the show to discuss these parallels and reflect on Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 1978 speech, "A World Split Apart."

Klainerman's essay "Reflections on Solzhenitsyn’s Harvard Address" is here.

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On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. Allen C. Guelzo, Director of the James Madison Program's Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship, joins the show to discuss the legacy of the Gettysburg Address and what Lincoln might say to us today.

 Guelzo's 2013 article for The New York Times is here.

 Guelzo's 2013 piece in the Claremont Review of Books is here.

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Are transgenderism and feminism at odds? Are we living through another sexual revolution? Why have conservatives been so unsuccessful in fighting the "culture wars"? Scott Yenor, Professor of Political Science at Boise State University, joins Madison's Notes to answer these questions and discuss his new book, The Recovery of Family Life: Exposing the Limits of Modern Ideologies.

Yanor's essay "The False Science of Feminism" is here.

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Could totalitarianism take root in America? What does it mean to "live not by lies"? 

Rod Dreher is a senior editor at The American Conservative and the author of several books, including The Benedict Option. He joins the show to answer these questions and discuss his new book, Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents.

Solzhenitsyn's 1974 essay is here.

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Is the Supreme Court too powerful? When did judicial nominations become so contentious? Should we have term limits for judges and justices?

Ilya Shapiro '99, Director of the Cato Institute's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, joins the show to answer these questions and discuss his new book, Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America's Highest Court.

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Is America still a democracy? What is at stake in the 2020 presidential election? Michael Anton, Lecturer at Hillsdale College and Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute, joins the show to answer these questions and discuss his new book, The Stakes: America at the Point of No Return.

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Amy Coney Barrett is a judge on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2019, Judge Barrett delivered the James Madison Program's Annual Walter F. Murphy Lecture in American Constitutionalism. The lecture was entitled "The Constitution as Our Story."

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What are the "great books"? What makes them great? Is the cultivation of an intellectual life especially important to citizens of a democratic republic? Zena Hitz, Tutor at St. John's College, joins the show to discuss all this and more!

You can buy Hitz's book Lost in Thought here.

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What did Abraham Lincoln read? What makes him "America's greatest defender"? What should we do with Confederate memorials? Lucas Morel, the John K. Boardman, Jr. Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University, joins the show to discuss all this and more! 

You can buy Morel's book Lincoln and the American Founding here.

You can read Morel's editorial "Why Lee should remain a namesake of my university" here.

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Alexandra DeSanctis is a Staff Writer for National Review and a Visiting Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. She joins Madison's Notes to discuss abortion, the Pro-Life movement in America, the state of free speech in journalism, and more! You can read Bari Weiss's letter of resignation here.

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